Unsolicited help for a budding chocolatier...

[donk79]

Today I ran into a young guy at the local farmers market selling his own bean-to-bar chocolate.  Naturally, I was intrigued.  He is running some interesting flavor combinations on additions to the chocolate, but what impressed me more was the flavor of his 80% dark chocolate.  It was very fruit forward.  I loved it.  Unfortunately, I did not love the texture anywhere near as much.  My relatively uninformed suspicions are that he is not conching the chocolate long enough, and that he is having issues with tempering.  These pictures are from his Facebook page.  It is typical of what I tasted and purchased.  The chocolate was slow to melt, and had a fine grit, almost flour-like texture.

 

 

 

 

I want to help.  I would really like this guy to succeed.  But he does not know me from Adam.  All I am is a guy who bought a bit of his chocolate.  I would firstly like any helps with analysis of what you visually see going on with his chocolate.  Second, any thoughts on what might be the best way to approach someone starting out, to try to point out some opportunities for improvement?

[pastrygirl]

You could go back and say, "FYI your tempering sucks" but that's hard to hear.  How about engaging him in discussion - act curious & ask how he tempers, how to know when it's right.  Commiserate and share what works for you.

[donk79]

Unfortunately, I have almost zero practical experience in this field.  Anything I know comes from curiously following threads here!

[donk79]

Commiseration might work, though...  In my one season of efforts at making chocolates, tempering was certainly an issue!

 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by donk79 (log)

[GRiker]

I think pastrygirl’s suggestion about engaging in conversation is a good one.  People usually like to talk about what they enjoy doing. Telling him about eGullet could be helpful too. 

[teonzo]

Seems like this guy jumped a bit too early in the market. Those mistakes are kind of amateurish. Putting that photo on his facebook page is something a savvy professional would never do.

Usually these are signs of someone with a hiigh self confidence and unable to admit his/her own faults, those people are not too keen to receive criticisms, so you should be really really cautious when trying to point out those troubles.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Darienne]

3 hours ago, teonzo said:

 

Usually these are signs of someone with a hiigh self confidence and unable to admit his/her own faults, those people are not too keen to receive criticisms, so you should be really really cautious when trying to point out those troubles.

 

Very good point.  Ed and I have certain skills which we have offered on occasions to others.  Some are delighted by the offer of help...others are not.  At all.   

 

Added:  I would say to let it go.  Perhaps when his chocolate does not sell well, he'll be more amenable to learning.

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Darienne (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I'm probably gonna fall in a minority here but honestly, I think offering unsolicited advice is a bit out of line unless you know the answers and can show them what they're doing wrong, why it's wrong and how to try to correct it. A polite "there appears to be some tempering issues" or similar would be fine and sending them here would be perfect if they're willing to listen but I don't think attempting to teach them is the way to go if you don't actually know how to do it yourself. It sounds like your heart is in the right place but it's usually pretty easy for me to tell when someone is just throwing information they had to go look up at me and isn't speaking from actual knowledge. 

[pastrygirl]

And, some companies are going for a rough, minimally conched product.  I couldn't tell you why ... ask him if barely tempered is what he's going for.

 

He's probably just excited to have made something resembling chocolate.  But as many of us will attest, chocolate is a bitch

[donk79]

1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

I'm probably gonna fall in a minority here but honestly, I think offering unsolicited advice is a bit out of line unless you know the answers and can show them what they're doing wrong, why it's wrong and how to try to correct it. A polite "there appears to be some tempering issues" or similar would be fine and sending them here would be perfect if they're willing to listen but I don't think attempting to teach them is the way to go if you don't actually know how to do it yourself. It sounds like your heart is in the right place but it's usually pretty easy for me to tell when someone is just throwing information they had to go look up at me and isn't speaking from actual knowledge. 

Hence my concern and hesitation.  I know that I am in no place to attempt anything like teaching.  I would like to see him connected with places and people who can help him, though!

[teonzo]

You could try approaching him/her saying something like "your chocolate is different from the store bought bars, these shades make it look more natural" and see which reaction you get. Is he/she is reasonable then your message will reach through. If it's a case of self inflated ego, then you will hear a good amount of crap on how untempered chocolate is really natural, unlike the industrial shiny bars, so you'll know to just let it go over your shoulders.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Tri2Cook]

Of course, the direct approach is sometimes best. As my mom used to say, sometimes you gotta tell people they're being an ass or they may not even know. A variation on that could apply to this situation. Maybe just state outright that it's out of temper and see what the reaction is. Then you'll know if it's even worth pursuing further. The texture may or may not be something the person can do anything about depending on how they're making the chocolate. If they don't have the proper equipment (or if they don't want the equipment, depending on what their goal is, maybe they're going for the rustic thing), then it is what it is. 

[keychris]

Could be that flavour is what he prefers over the well-conched-ness of it. Flavour profile changes the longer something is conched as more volatile compounds evaporate out of the blend over time.

[Tri2Cook]

41 minutes ago, keychris said:

Could be that flavour is what he prefers over the well-conched-ness of it. Flavour profile changes the longer something is conched as more volatile compounds evaporate out of the blend over time.

Yep, and sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But if he's using any type of commercially available refiner, he's going a really short time if there's still graininess. I have some chocolates I do for more time and some for less but I've rarely had one with noticeable graininess within about 10 - 12 hours after the last of the components were added. Possibly even less than that, I usually start my batches so they can do the first part of the run overnight so they already have 10 hours or so on them before the first check.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

There was a local bean to bar place that sold gritty chocolate.  Good flavor though.  Sadly they were not in business very long.

 

[donk79]

5 hours ago, keychris said:

Could be that flavour is what he prefers over the well-conched-ness of it. Flavour profile changes the longer something is conched as more volatile compounds evaporate out of the blend over time.

 

9 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

And, some companies are going for a rough, minimally conched product.  I couldn't tell you why ... ask him if barely tempered is what he's going for.

 

He's probably just excited to have made something resembling chocolate.  But as many of us will attest, chocolate is a bitch

This is a really interesting angle.  I have to wonder about it.  Next time I see him, I'll ask if he is keeping the processing minimal to preserve the flavor.  We will see where that conversation leads.

[Kerry Beal]

“So are you keeping the processing to a minimum to preserve the flavour - or do you simply suck at tempering?”  
 

You might also also suggest he needs some cooling after pouring his molds.

 

 

[RobertM]

You could ask him if he knows people in the chocolate industry, how they got started, etc and try and suggest eG as an amazing source of information and knowledge base.  (The eG workshop is an amazing place to learn and teach).

kind of the “lead a horse to water but can’t make them drink” approach.  
 

and as you leave the booth, you say to the person with you, loud enough, but not to loud....wow, they really suck at tempering....don’t they!

[Rajala]

14 hours ago, RobertM said:

Suggest eG as an amazing source of information and knowledge base.

 

And show him this thread?